The Academy
by Uchihagetsu-san
Summary: Not everything is what it seems, a lesson taught by the Academy to all of the student body. A young girl who had nothing the past will strive to protect everything her future holds, even at the risk of hideously scaring her own body. Besides, whats a few more scars added to the mass of them? FemNarutox?
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys! New story. Not much of a writer, as you can tell, but I am willing to work at it! But in order for my best, you, dear readers, also need to do your best as my crutch._

_Working on other stories as well that haven't been posted yet. Not even sure why I'm telling you guys this. .-._

_Have a wonderful day!_

_Thank you!_

_-U_

**_FemNaruto_**

**_3rd Person POV_**

* * *

"Uzumaki Natsuki! Get off the desk, sit down correctly, and pay attention!" The teacher, Orochimaru, yelled at the young female blonde laying on the desk. Orochimaru, the science teacher for the young and the restless was an older man, say about mid 30s. His hair was dark black and long, reaching to the mid-back. He, in some ways, often resembled a snake and was quite proud of it too.

The blonde girl, now known as Uzumaki Natsuki, quickly picked up her head from where it was resting, on her left arm near the corner of her desk, while her eyelids remained closed. Orochimaru-sensei's normally sickly pale skin began to turn a vibrant red as milliseconds passed. The girl was mocking him unknowingly and now, the snake absolutely despised the bright blonde headed girl who always refused to pay attention in his, along with many other, classes.

She always preferred to sleep in the position she was in now. Her whole body, which really isn't much considering she's so petite, was thrown on top of the desk nearest to the back of the classroom in a fetal position. Orochimaru-sensei didn't understand it, but the girl continuously made better grades than those students who actually stayed fully awake and did their work. When it came to weekly quizzes and monthly exams, the girl usually woke in the last few minutes of class to complete her work and still, the blonde teen would best everyone in her class. There were only a few things Orochimaru could admit to, like the fact that he was completely fascinated with certain _things_, and one of them was that the few things that Uzumaki Natsuki did couldn't be done by just anyone, not even his favorite _thing_, Uchiha Itachi. To be able to complete a test that was designed to last _at least _four hours in under five minutes with the blurry haze of just waking up was not a small feat, but Uzumaki made it seem like a stroll in the park.

Uzumaki Natsuki was, both mentally and physically, a bright child. Although Orochimaru and his colleagues were typically on opposing sides when it came to a matter of opinion, the fact that Uzumaki is a bright child was something everyone could agree on… and her outstanding soundless sleep she had perfected over the years.

Natsuki has the brightest, most vibrant blonde hair in all of Wave Country. Her hair reaches past her waist, all the way down to the top part of her thigh that she usually had in a braid and tucked into her bright, overly large, orange jacket that she always wore. Her eyes are the brightest and most brilliant blue that held a spark in them. She was small for her 17 years, only standing at a small stature of 5'2. Although most would miss it because of the overly large jacket she wore, her figure was exceptionally… feminine. She could easily qualify as one of the most gorgeous girls inside of Shinobi Academy without trying, but because of her status as a scholarship student, most of her peers have shunned her, fearing 'social suicide' even with the smallest of words spoken. Although her peers have shunned her, Natsuki doesn't care, as a child she didn't have the luxury of having friends in between her scavenging for food and running from the mass mobs of her hometown with her older brother.

Shinobi Academy of the Arts was a school for the exceptionally gifted and rich students who attended it. Most of the students inside were incredibly rich, slightly gifted students who dreamed to become famous like their parents before them. You either had to have a lot of wealth or a lot of talent to be a student of the Academy. Those who weren't wealth, or wealthy enough, had to audition for a seat in the Academy. They had to be exceptionally gifted to even qualify for an audition, like Uzumaki Natsuki, or more often than not called, "The Scholarship Girl". While there were more scholarship students at the Academy, most go to great lengths to hide that fact from their peers. But not Natsuki, she, to be frank, didn't care what her peers thought of her.

Natsuki had gone great distances to be where she was. She worked hard to get into the school. To have a place to sleep at night and food in her stomach was something she would work hard to keep because she vowed to never have to live like that again. She was given a clean dorm with another scholarship student and a weekly allowance with just enough to buy all her necessary things. To continue getting everything all she had to do was make a minimum of a B average in all of her classes, something that continued to come easy to her.

The Academy was really two different schools, the high school and the college. Natsuki, and the rest of science class Orochimaru-sensei was so graciously teaching, all were second years in the High School section of the Academy. The college classes were all on the second floor of any academic building. During passing period, a good half hour to get to the next class, students could interact with any students and teachers alike. The Academy was simply just a small town reserved solely for those wishing to become something through study and hard work.

The bell rang, signaling the end of their class and the beginning if the hour lunch period. The class remained seated until Orochimaru-sensei dismissed them -much to Orochimaru's pleasure- except the blonde teen –much to his displeasure- in the back of the class. Having heard the bell, Uzumaki had slid off the top of her desk and robotically gotten her things without the use of sight to help her. Her eyes were closed as she walked to the front of the class and stopped right in front of a very annoyed Orochimaru. As Orochimaru opened his mouth to yell at his student, Natsuki sneezed cutely into his open mouth and moved her small body around the twitching older man and silently left the room.

The class sat there silently staring at the door the young Uzumaki had just used to leave the room.

"How does she know where she's going?" One student asked, breaking the silence.

"Who cares, as long as she gets hit by a bus on the way there." Haruno Sakura said with a scoff.

It was no secret that the cherry blossom of the class hand a great dislike for the blonde teen. No one knew why Sakura hated the girl so much, but it certainly ran deeper than the typical "Queen Bee bulling her subjects" fad that was still, surprisingly, in style.

Orochimaru regained his composure and moved to sit as his desk.

"Dismissed." Orochimaru said as he took out his reading glasses from the inside of his desk and began looking through his online grade book to enter fresh grades from today's class.

The all together the class stood up and began to gather up their things to head over to the Academy's cafeteria.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun, stay after class." Orochimaru-sensei chirped.

Said male sighed loudly while the rest of the class looked at the young Uchiha with pity.

Orochimaru-sensei was well known to be quite creepy around the student population, especially around the good-looking half of the population. He was well known by those in the college section as, to be put simply, a pedophile. Although he was particularly good-looking in his own way, age has not done him justice and he has a particular interest in the tall, dark, and unresponsive teenage male. His interests were certainly… creepy, but he was well known in the science world as a respected scientist. He never let his side interests get in the way of his life, his only stable joy, science and experiments.

Uchiha Sasuke was the youngest of all the Uchiha siblings that attended the Academy. The oldest Madara and his twin Izuna were instructors at the Academy, with Madara teaching various forms of dance and Izuna teaching the art of sculpting. Obito was third oldest, and in his sophomore year of college studying to become a director, and just a year below him was Itachi who was barely in his freshman year of college. Sasuke was the baby of the family, coming in two years after Itachi and seven years after the twins.

They all held the typical Uchiha traits, black hair, dark onyx eyes, and a pale complexion. They were a very attractive group of men, indeed. All of them, except Obito, had that mysterious air around them that girls typically considered attractive. Obito was the odd man out when it came to personalities. All of them had the quiet, rarely-talking mojo which made them mysterious in female eyes, except for Obito. Obito was incredibly loud and very un-Uchiha. Although Obito was the odd man out of the five siblings, he was the only one in a steady relationship with his significant other, Rin.

"Yes, Orochimaru-sensei?" Sasuke asked as he stood in front of Orochimaru's desk.

"It seems you've been failing to keep up with your work, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru chided while continuing to punch in grade into his grade book.

"If it continues," He went on, "then you would fail the six weeks. We don't want that, now do we? You know what failing means, Sasuke-kun? You'd have to be taken out of your afternoon classes and put into my classroom, to spend some one-on-one with Orochimaru-sensei."

Sasuke inwardly shuddered at the thought. He barely liked being in Orochimaru's 30 minute classes every day. It would be purely insane if he allowed himself to fail science and get out of his afternoon classes. Heck, his afternoon classes are the only reason he bothered to come to any of his academic classes.

"Is there any work I can do before the end of the six weeks?" Sasuke asked in a painfully polite voice.

"Yes. Here's a packet of work that I want finished by next Wednesday. You're dismissed" Orochimaru-sensei said, handing Sasuke a thick packet of papers. Sasuke wasn't even sure if they had done this amount of work during the year. He wasn't even sure if they had done half the amount of work during the year.

Nodding, Sasuke quickly put the packet of papers in his bag and walked out of the classroom.

"SASUKE-KUN!" A shrill voice yelled coming from down the hallway. Looking up, Sasuke spotted the cherry blossom of the Academy, Haruno Sakura, grinning widely and waving ecstatically at the sight of him. The sound of her voice gave him chills down his spine. Although she certainly was beautiful with her bubblegum pink hair, unblemished skin, light complexion, rosy cheeks, and pouty red lips, Sasuke knew that her appearance could be very deceiving. Last year, when they were in their first year of high school, Sasuke and Sakura were the "it" couple on campus, until Sasuke thought it was a good idea for her, the cute and sweet innocent girl he thought she was, to meet the rest of his family, including his future sister-in-law, Rin. Rin and Obito have been dating for years, since they were in junior high, but they almost had grown up together. The Uchiha siblings have grown to the think of the young brunette as a sister, which within the year she would be. Needless to say, Sakura treated Rin worse than dirt because she didn't know who Rin was to the Uchiha, and that wasn't going to fly with Sasuke or any of the siblings, mostly Obito. Since then, Sakura has continuously tried to reconnect with the youngest Uchiha, but all of attempts to get Sasuke to even consider speaking to Sakura again had failed. Her voice made his head pound and she put too much perfume on for his overly sensitive nose. Sakura's presence was Sasuke's nightmare.

Inwardly sighing in frustration Sasuke leaned against the hallway wall. He hadn't been keeping up with any of his work since he was exposed to the thrilling side of Waves. Less than two months ago, his oldest brother Madara had taken Sasuke to the warehouse district, where Sasuke witnessed the greatest thing he had ever seen; underground racing, exciting fighting rings, and thrilling parties. That single Thursday night had changed Sasuke's life.

Madara had informed him that this was where most of the students of Shinobi Academy went on a good Thursday night, to see good fights, races, and attractive women in skimpy clothing dance. Some of the women who attended to just party even attended the Academy as students, including Sasuke's nightmare, The 'Queen Bee', Haruno Sakura. Everyone who was anyone came to these 'peaceful gatherings'. Madara even told him that the fighting and the races were for anyone who had the money to put them in the game. The following nights, Sasuke and his friends spent all their time in their private garage fixing up Sasuke's car to be in top shape for the next Thursday night racing.

The following Thursday night, Sasuke put pinched some of his savings and entered the race as one of the newbie street racers. The races lasted about an hour or two. Since he was a newbie, he had to race against the newbies. But with the exceptional skill at driving Sasuke possessed, he quickly rose up in the ranks as undefeated, even against the greatest veterans.

The warehouse district is the only place in the middle of Waves that no gang held claim too. Plus the warehouses provided just enough space to have the fights, races, and parties all in one area. Anyone could fight or race for money. Those who typically couldn't last in the ring partied like champions. People knew the no violence policy was always in effect, almost like an unspoken rule inside the warehouses. The only place in the district that allowed violence was the ring.

The fighting ring wasn't like wrestling or boxing rings. It was just a large part of space that was cleared when it was time to begin the fighting and could take any shape because it was the people surrounding to see the fight were the gates to separate the fighters from the rest of the people. The flooring was just loose dirt that all the warehouses had inside. Sasuke had been told that most of those fights are incredibly dangerous and every person who entered the ring wouldn't leave without a couple of scars, making Sasuke even more anxious to see one of the fights.

Sasuke looked up, hearing three sets of footsteps, to be greeted with the sights of his closest friends.

Hyuuga Neji was his oldest friend, often spending time with him when they were children. He's a year older than the rest of them but was held back due to the untimely death of his father, resulting in being in the same grade as them even though he was taking a few third-year classes. He had long brown hair and pale eyes that were hereditary in his family. Like Sasuke, Neji rarely spoke to anyone except his closest friends and family.

Next to Neji on the right was Inuzuka Kiba, his roommate for this year and their first year. He was tall like the rest of them, if not taller. He excelled in athletics, but need assistance when it came to academics and studying. He was not the brightest bulb in the pack. That was for sure. Kiba had the rugged look to him. His hair was dark brown, short, and untamed. He had two upside down red triangles on his cheeks, showing what clan he belonged too. Kiba was the friendliest person within their group and also the most outgoing. Although he is competitive, mainly due to the large amount of sports he plays, Sasuke was much worse when it came to winning or losing.

Next to Kiba was Sai. He was a scholarship student, but because he was paired with Neji in their first year and again this year, no one really gave him shit about it. He looked to like an Uchiha with the dark eyes and hair and a pale complexion. He was the shortest of them all, standing at 5'9". While Neji and Sasuke stood at 5'11" and Kiba at a good 6'0. Sai was not shy, but he rarely speaks mainly because Sai was the "call-it-like-he-sees-it" type of person. He was incredibly blunt to all who ask and didn't bat an eyelash when those he was blunt too charge at him like a large raging rhino.

"What did Orochimaru-sensei want?" Neji asked his oldest friend.

Sasuke sighed and reached into his bag, grabbing the large packet of papers Orochimaru had given him.

Silence greeted him until Kiba gaped, "That's more work than we've done all year!"

Sasuke nodded depressingly and quickly put the large pack of papers back into the safety of his bag.

"When is the packet due?" Neji asked as they began walking to their awaiting table inside Shinobi Academy's extravagant cafeteria that the high school and the college both shared.

"Next Wednesday." Sasuke answered, closing his eyes as a large sigh escaped his lips. '_I shouldn't have allowed myself to get so far behind.' _He thought.

Sai's eyebrows pinched together, "That's less than a week from now."

"Don't remind me." Sasuke said coldly to his blunt friend.

Neji's eyes met Sasuke's. "Well," He said, "What are you going to do?"

Picking up his hand, Sasuke move it toward his neck and began to rub in a relaxing manor, "I need help. No way can I finish it all in less than a week."

Kiba sheepishly smiled, "You're my friend and all, but knowing me, I'd probably do more bad than good by helping."

Sasuke chuckled and he looked at his tall friend, "Thank the gods, I hoped you would say no to help me."

Kiba laughed loudly as they exited the science building and walked in the direction of the cafeteria, which was in the center of Shinobi Academy's campus.

Shinobi Academy had an extremely large campus. The student population was exceptionally large for such an expensive school. It was the school to go to if you wanted to be somebody famous in the world. The Academy housed all of their students in dorms, only being segregated by gender. The guy's dorms were on one side of the campus while the girl's were on the other. The campus also had a large garage near the farthest edge of the campus, used by teachers and students alike. Near the entrance of the campus was a large library. To the right of the library is the administration office and other school necessities. On the opposite side of the garage was a dry cleaner, and to the right of it was a Laundromat. Right in the dead center was the large cafeteria. On different parts of the campus were several other buildings used for education. The smallest buildings on campus were the academic buildings that were placed in various areas of Shinobi Academy . In the four corners of the campus were four other buildings, for the different arts. One was for artists that used paints, clay, or any other material to make something amazing. Another building was for the art of dance. Another was used for those wishing to become a director or a photographer. The last one was used for those who wanted to become the face of fame, actors and singers alike.

All of the buildings were painted on the outside to represent what the buildings were used for by the painters of the academy to beautify the campus. The library was had a bunch of books painted on it, while the cafeteria had different foods on it. The buildings for the arts were painted to represent their differences. The singing and acting building was painted to look like a set to play, while the directing and photographing building was painted to look like a large camera. The dance building was had different dances painted on it, the most noticeable dancer was the ballerina. The artistic building was painted with various different objects the painters wanted to paint, a large collage of what was on the painters' minds. The academic buildings were painted with things relating to the subject on it. The science building had the several things like beakers and goggles painted in random places, while the literature had what looked like small snippets of novels and poetry, math had the whole pi number all around the building, while history had monuments from all over the world painted on.

Finally reaching their destination, the most wanted males in the high school section entered the cafeteria. Inside, the cafeteria was grand. The walls were painted a relaxing green with a dark green served as the color of the curtains. Several famous nature painting decorated the wall. Without hesitation, the four made their way to their table, a table that has been claimed by them since their first year. Several greetings from their peers (fangirls) reached their ears as they smirked and greeted back. The reached their table and quickly spread out, taking as much room as possible to eliminate any chance someone attempting to sit with them.

A cute girl with light brown hair and eyes to match walked towards them with a small notepad in her hand.

"What will it be?" She asked smiling with a slight blush tinting her pale cheeks.

"The large fruit platter, please." Sai said, smiling back at the girl.

The girl's blush grew as she quickly wrote down the pale man's order.

"To share?" She asked.

Neji answered, "Yes."

"Anything else?" She asked, looking up from her notepad.

"Water for the four." Kiba said.

Nodding happily the girl said, "Okay your order will be right out." And slowly began to turn around in hopes of one of them in the group would stop her leaving.

"Wait!" Sasuke called out.

The girl turned around quickly and smiled seductively at him, "Yes?" She purred.

"Don't forget the tomatoes." He said coldly at the female.

The girl dropped her expression, "What?" she gasped.

"Don't forget the tomatoes."

The girl pinched her eyebrows in confusion.

Noticing the girl's confusion, Sasuke answered, "We ordered the fruit platter. Tomatoes are fruits. Make sure there are tomatoes." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The girl blushed quickly in embarrassment and nodded before speeding off in the direction of the kitchen.

"You should ask the Uzumaki to help you." Kiba said randomly as their food and water arrived.

"Huh?" Sasuke asked as he bit into a tomatoes slice.

Kiba sighed, "Natsuki Uzumaki, one of the smartest people in our grade."

"How do you know that?" Sai asked.

A small but noticeable tint of pink rose to Kiba's tattooed cheeks, "Well, uh… When they pin up class ranks every couple of weeks, I always see her rank in the top 5."

"You expect to be ranked in the top 5?" Neji asked.

Kiba awkwardly laughed as his blush deepened, "Uh… yeah?"

Sai blinked, "How is she in the top 5 if she's always asleep?"

Kiba shrugged his shoulders as he reached to get a strawberry from the plate to eat. He put it inside his mouth…

"She's actually really cute." Neji said, looking up in thought.

And proceeded to choke Kiba did.

"Yes, really cute." Sai agreed.

Sasuke pinched his eyebrows together in confusion. He would be lying if he said he knew who his friends were talking about. The name sounded greatly familiar to him.

"Who is Uzumaki Natsuki?" He asked his friends. They each turned to look at him with widened eyes.

"We just had class with her!" Kiba all but shouted at his friend.

"How is it the most popular boy doesn't know who the infamous Uzumaki Natsuki is?" Sai mused.

"Who is she?" He asked again.

Neji sighed loudly, "We have her next period, and we'll point her out to you."

Sasuke nodded and continued to eat his tomatoes as he was lost in thought.

The bell rang quickly snapping the youngest Uchiha out of his thoughts.

Quickly the four made their way towards the school gym that was oddly off of school grounds, but before they reached their destination Sasuke had spotted his older brothers and their select group of friends. Since they left the cafeteria early, making a quick detour wouldn't hurt anyone.

Quickly making his way to greet them, he was quickly spotted by the only blonde of the group, Deidara.

"Look, baby came to say hello, yeah." He said, making the group turn towards where he was looking, quickly meeting eyes of the youngest Uchiha.

Sasuke glared at the pale blonde male. And the male glared back.

"Hey, you guys know of Uzumaki Natsuki?" Kiba asked the group.

"That bitch is fucking hot!" Hidan yelled.

Several of the male in the group nodded in agreement, including Sasuke's brother Itachi, surprising the four friends.

"Man, I hope she likes tapes and CDs." Hidan groaned out.

"Why?" Kiba asked, genuinely curious.

"So I can tape this dick to her face so she ca-" Hidan's head snapped forward as it met the palm of Tobi's hand.

"Tobi won't like it if Natsu-chan's innocent ears were tainted with Hidan-words!" He yelled childishly.

"Innocent? Since when was she fucking innocent?" Hidan yelled back as he gripped is now throbbing head.

Deidara began laughing, "Hey, remember when she threw away Hidan's-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, DEIDARA!" Hidan roared before attacking the poor blonde man.

"Or when she lit his teddy bear-" Deidara continued as he countered Hidan's attacks.

"I fucking swear, Deid-"

"Or when she dyed his hair while he-"

"Deidara, if you don't shut the fuc-"

"Or when she drugged the shit out of him and made him think he was a "Booteeful butterfly"?"

"She really did that?" Kiba asked Itachi.

Itachi nodded and chuckled wholeheartedly as he brought up the memory.

"I haven't seen that girl in a while." Kisame, the blue, tall, shark of man said sadly.

"You can come with us to the gym because we have her for the class." Sai invited the college group.

"TOBI WANTS TO GO!"

"Tobi, why the fuck do you want to fucking go if she's just going to be fucking running?" Hidan asked he wrestled his blonde friend on the ground.

"IT'S WARM OUTSIDE!" Tobi yelled as it was most obvious thing.

"So fucking what?" Hidan growled.

"It is warm outside." Deidara said with wide eyes.

"And what the fuck?" Hidan asked as he pulled Deidara's long blonde hair.

Deidara sighed at his friend's slow thinking, "Warm outside air plus exercise equals intense heat…"

"Intense heat equals jacketless Natsu…." Hidan finished

"WE WANT TO GO TOO!" They yelled simultaneously as they got up from the ground.

Itachi shook his head at his friends, but he couldn't help but agree with them for wanting to see the young Uzumaki. He had known the young girl since she was in orphanage with her older brother. Her older brother, Kurama, was incredibly protective of the girl. Itachi couldn't blame him, with their past and the girl's good looks even then, Itachi would be just as protective of her, if not worse. When Kurama had ran away from the orphanage with little Natsuki in his arms, Itachi couldn't have been more proud of the older boy. Whenever Itachi would see them around Konoha, their hometown, he always made sure to give them something, whether it be money or food. Itachi basically had seen little Natsuki grow up, up until when he had to leave their large town to attend the Academy in his first year of high school.

"You know this Uzumaki?" Itachi's youngest brother asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yes." Itachi nodded.

Sasuke's brow crunched together in confusion, "How?"

A small nostalgic smile graced Itachi's lips, "She's an old friend, baby brother."

"C'mon, guys! Let's be the first to get to gym so we can complete our daily warm up!" Kiba yelled with enthusiasm.

"How is she an old friend?" Sasuke asked as the now larger group walked towards the Academy track.

"Natsu-chan lived in Konoha."

Sasuke raised a brow at the familiar way his brother was speaking of Uzumaki. It seemed that everyone knew who the girl was except him. How was that possible? From what he had gathered so far was that she was in the same grade as him and even lived in Konoha. If that's true than the girl should have been in the same primary school all the way up until junior high as he, so how is it he doesn't know the girl. She knows 2 out of 5 of his brothers, and with Itachi stating she's an old friend, how could it be possible that he doesn't know who she is?

Sasuke was confused, that was an understatement.

"If she lived Konoha than how come her name doesn't ring a bell? She had to be in the same class as me at one point in primary." Sasuke asked, ignoring everything that was going on around them.

Itachi closed his eyes as a long sigh escaped his lips, "She never went to school up until this one."

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock as he processed what was being said, "How is that possible?" He asked.

"That is not my tale to tell, baby brother." Itachi said opening his eyes to look at his baby brother.

"Be careful, last time someone asked her about it she beat the shit out of 'em." Deidara said fondly.

"Who'd she beat up?" Sai asked, genuinely curious.

"FUCK YOU, BITCH! SHE DIDN'T BEAT ME!" Hidan roared at Deidara.

Deidara snickered, "So what is called when she hurls you through walls and breaks at least a quarter of your bones?"

Kiba gulped loudly, "She did all that?"

Deidara snaps his head to look at Kiba with amusement laced in his eyes, "She can do worse." He said with a large sadistic smile.

"Natsu-chan! I'm coming to you!" Tobi yelled as he took off running in the direction of the track.

"20 bucks says she throws him." Deidara said to Hidan.

"You're on!" Hidan yelled as he shook hands with his best friend/ worst enemy.

"Does she throw people often?" Sai asked Neji.

"Women are weak; she wouldn't be able to lift a small child." Neji said as they continued to walk.

Hidan and Deidara laughed hysterically. With tears is his eyes Deidara said, "You should really see her fight sometime."

"She fights… often?" Sai asked.

"Every Thursday." Itachi said.

Kiba's eyes widened slightly, "She's one of the people in the fighting ring in the underground?"

* * *

_Thank you, and sorry for the short read. I may or may not continue this story. _

_Don't forget to show support, in any way you can._

_Thank you and good day._

_-U_


	2. Hidden Secrets

_I promised myself I would post another chapter by Wednesday, and I did, so I am a happy little loser._

_For all those wondering who Natsuki will be paired with, you have the opportunity to choose. On my profile, I have set up a poll that will allow you to chose up to three. There is the option, "Other", it would be greatly appreciated by me, and perhaps other readers, that if other is chosen, please PM or review who you wish to see Natsuki paired with._

_Hope you guy's enjoy._

_-U._

* * *

"Hey Natsuki!" A voice said from below.

Natsuki opened her left eye and peered down in the direction she heard the voice. Not having to search long, Natsuki spotted some of her friends; Uchiha Obito, Nohara Rin, and Hatake Kakashi.

Obito was waving wildly at Natsuki with a loud grin on his face while his fiancé, Rin, was giggling at his antics. Obito's best friend Kakashi was reading out of a book that had its cover covered up with a dark blue cloth.

"What?" Natsuki asked, irritated at Obito for interrupting her precious sleep.

"Come down from there!" Obito yelled too loudly. Kakashi cringed slight but nonetheless continued to read his book while Rin was holding onto Obito's arm in a loving manner.

"Fine." Natsuki huffed as she sat up and opened her other eye. Sighing as loudly as she could, Natsuki stood up from where she was sitting and stretched her tired muscles hoping to wake them before she jumped.

Sensing what Natsuki was about to do, Rin quickly said, "Natsuki, please don't-"

Natsuki jumped from where she was standing, which was on the ledge of a 50 foot high billboard.

"-Jump." Rin finished in defeat.

"What? Sorry, Rin, couldn't hear you from up there." Natsuki said as she landed a few feet from them with a grin.

Rin puffed out her cheeks, knowing full well that Natsuki had almost perfect hearing.

"What were you doing up there Natsuki?" Obito asked excitedly.

Natsuki deadpanned, "What did it look like? I was tap dancing." She said sarcastically.

Obito looked at her in awe, "You can tap dance lying down?"

"She was being sarcastic, baka." Kakashi said, looking up to meet Obito's eyes before going back to his reading.

"What did I tell you about sleeping in really high places?" Rin asked.

Natsuki rolled her arms, "It's not safe." She answered simply.

Rin huffed, "Then why do you keep doing it?"

Natsuki grinned widely, "Because no one would bother me if they can't see me."

Kakashi stifled a laugh, "Who would want to bother _you_?"

Natsuki mocked glared at the silver haired man, "Touché."

Kakashi glared back at her.

"Anyways," Obito began breaking the glaring contest, "You're fighting in the ring tonight, right Natsuki-chan?"

Natsuki grinned sadistically, "I wouldn't miss it."

Rin pouted, "I don't understand why you keep putting yourself in a dangerous situation like that."

Natsuki smiled sadly at Rin, "Sometimes you do what you must to survive."

Rin looked at Natsuki sadly, knowing how badly she had just sounded. Rin had met Natsuki when she was rummaging through Rin's trash for food when Rin had skipped school in her middle school years. Rin remembered how sickly Natsuki looked, and could only imagine what had gone on in Natsuki's childhood.

Natsuki put her small hand on the older girl's shoulders, "Don't look so sad," She said, "Everything I've been through has made me strong, so a couple of more dances won't even scratch me."

Rin smiled, her chocolate brown eyes sparkling into Natsuki's blue ones.

"Well, anyways," Obito said loudly, breaking up his fiance's and Natsuki's little bonding moment, (Only he and Rin were allowed to have bonding moments, apparently.) "I heard from Madara that there is gonna be a new guy in the ring."

Natsuki scoffed, "There's always new guys in the ring, baka."

"Aww! Natsuki, not you too!" Obito whined childishly with a pout.

Rin giggled, her chocolate brown hair bobbing as she did so. Grabbing Obito's cheeks, Rin laughed once more and pulled on them. Obito made grunting noises as his fiancé began to play with his face.

"This guy was said to be the legendary underground fighter from Suna, The Sandman." Kakashi said to Natsuki, finishing what his best friend was going to say before Rin decided to have a moment with him.

Natsuki laughed, "The Sandman? Really?"

Kakashi put his hand behind his head sheepishly with a tinge of pink lining the blue cloth he always had on his face, "Well that's what he's called." Kakashi said.

Natsuki laughed even harder, "I bet I can take him."

Kakashi glared lightly at the small girl, "He is said to kill all of his opponents."

Natsuki looked at Kakashi with serious eyes, "It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to kill me."

The silver haired man sighed, "I know, but I, we, just wish that you'll be careful if you fight him tonight, Natsuki."

Natsuki sighed, rubbing her head she said, "I can't really make any promises."

"Please just try, Natsuki-chan." Rin pleaded as Obito fell, face first into the ground.

"Aww, Rin!" Obito whined as his words were being muffled by the ground.

"It's time for class." Natsuki said sadly as she looked at the screen of her phone.

"What class do you have next?" Kakashi asked her.

"Gym with Gai-sensei." Natsuki pouted up at him.

Kakashi laughed at the younger girl's misery.

And in return, Natsuki punched him… hard, in the face.

Obito laughed loudly at his fallen friend while Rin said her goodbye to Natsuki.

Natsuki turned in the direction of her next class, gym. At least she remembered to put her gym stuff inside her bag this morning so her bag could be like a makeshift pillow.

"Later, Natsu-chan!" Obito yelled loudly from yards away.

Natsuki picked up her hand and waved at him while not bothering to turn.

* * *

Natsuki had reached the gym rather quickly. Walking inside to go change into her gym clothes, Natsuki noticed she was probably really late or really early since there was no one inside.

After getting in one of changing areas, Natsuki quickly took off her overly large jacket and changed the rest of her attire. Her slim fit light blue jeans were traded for grey sweat pants, while her orange tee was traded for a light white cotton long sleeved shirt with a large orange strip around her midsection, and her dark orange flats traded for a bright pair of white running shoes. Quickly placing the rest of her items into her specified locker, and taking a quick look in the mirror to make sure her neck was covered by the thick orange ribbon she wore, Natsuki left the gym.

Tying up her long blonde hair up into a ponytail, Natsuki made her way to the track outside where the rest of the class should be gathering.

When Natsuki had arrived, she took quick note that she must have been slightly earlier than she had suspected since not many people have arrived.

Looking up, Natsuki looked at the clouds floating by. They seemed so relax and calm, just flowing with the wind.

"It's nice out today, huh?" Someone asked from behind her, startling Natsuki out of her thoughts.

Turning around to see who had spoke to her, she noticed two men, one who had a little more added meet to his body and the other with his dark hair in a high, spiky ponytail.

"Yeah, it's a good day for running." She answered looking at both men who were side by side.

The man who had his hair up chuckled, "Running is so troublesome." He said.

"Running makes me hungry." The larger one of the two said.

Natsuki smiled at the larger one, "It makes me hungry too!"

The larger one seemed started at the smaller girl's words. He was so use to women either being disgusted by his size or would just ignore him.

The taller of the two, pony tail, was also surprised at the small girl's lack of reluctance to talk to his best friend, not many women would say two words to his oldest friend, much to his displeasure, but it was a nice surprise to learn that not all women are shallow.

"I'm Nara Shikamaru." The taller of both men said.

"Akamichi Choji." The larger said, introducing himself to the small girl.

Natsuki smiled at both men, "Uzumaki Natsuki."

"Ahh, so you're the infamous Uzumaki." Shikamaru said.

"I guess." Natsuki said sheepishly.

"Don't worry, Natsuki-chan, you're not as mean as everyone said you are!" Choji yelled.

Natsuki laughed.

"NATSU-CHAAAAN!" A yell came from behind the trio.

"Oh no." Natsuki sighed, recognizing who it was by the voice.

"You know who that was?" Shikamaru asked, eyeing the girl.

"Unfortunately." She answered as she rubbed her temples, already getting a headache from Tobi.

"NATSU-CHAN, TOBI HAS BEEN A GOOD BOY, LIKE HE PROMISED NATSU-CHAN!" Tobi yelled cutely as he ran into the track. Stopping, he looked around, trying to spot a reluctant Natsuki. Likely spotting the girl, Tobi quickly made his way towards her to give her Tobi's famous tackle hugs.

"Tobi," Natsuki warned, "If you tackle me, I swear I will-"

Too late. Tobi had tackled the small girl on to the floor.

"TOBI-BAKA!" Natsuki yelled from underneath the larger man-boy.

Tobi shot up on his feet, "Tobi sorry Natsu-chan!" He yelled, shaking in fear of what the smaller girl would do.

"I told you what I was going to do last time, Tobi-chan." Natsuki said with a sadistic glint in her blue eyes.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Tobi screeched in horror as Natsuki walked closer and closer to him.

Shikamaru and Choji glanced at each other before shrugging and watching the small blonde's actions with amusement, and a pinch of fear.

Choji leaned to his right, closer to his oldest friend, I stand corrected," He gulped loudly, "She's scarier than what they said!"

Shikamaru glanced at his friend and then back to what the small blonde was doing to the one known as Tobi, "She's better than what we expected." He said as he analyzed the girl's movements.

* * *

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"What was that yell?" Kiba questioned their group as they made their way onto the track.

"Sounds like Tobi got caught by Natsu-chan." Deidara said as he looked at his nails, bored.

"You don't even care what she's doing to him?" Neji asked the older group.

"No." Hidan said simply.

"She loves Tobi like a brother; she would never bring him harm." Itachi elaborated to his youngest brother's friends.

"So she tortures him sweetly." Deidara added lamely, while still looking at his nails.

The large group of men entered the track.

"Is that…" Kiba began, looking straight ahead onto the track field.

"Tobi?" Sai finished.

The whole track was a mile long, and inside of it was where the school's football (American Football) team would have their home games. The grass inside the tack was green, having been tended to daily by the large amount of gardeners the Academy had on staff. The football field was perfectly kept in great condition. The track was inside the large open stadium the Academy used to show visiting teams just how wealthy the school was.

In front of them was Tobi, who was tied up tightly all around with white rope hanging by his feet that was connected to the top parts of the football goal. He had something covering his mouth as he wiggled restlessly in air.

"Ha!" Deidara said to a depressed Hidan.

"I don't know why you're so happy, Deidara-san. She didn't throw him." Sai said.

Hidan brightened and turned to Deidara, "HA! Give me 20, bitch!"

"How'd she get him up there?" Kiba wondered loudly.

Neji scoffed, "She probably got a couple of guys to help her. She's a woman and women are weak, therefore it's not possible for her to have done that all by herself."

"You'd be surprise of what she could do all by herself." Deidara said.

"Like what? Whine and complain? Women are good for one thing and one thing only." Neji said.

Hidan frowned, as did the rest of the group.

"You know, you're kind of an asshole." A voice said from behind them.

The group turned their head to see the small, blonde haired girl with emotionless blue eyes staring back at them, and mainly glaring at Neji.

"Natsu-chan!" Deidara yelled, catching the young woman's attention.

Natsuki ripped her eyes away from the only Hyuuga male's and settled on her fellow blonde's.

"Can we leave him up there for the rest of the day?" Deidara asked happily, pointing in the upwards direction of Tobi.

Natsuki smiled at the blonde, "Madara-sensei would kill me if I was the one who made Tobi skip out on his afternoon classes."

Sasuke blinked in surprise when his oldest brother's name came out of the now known Uzumaki. How did she know most of his brothers except for him?

Sasuke didn't know what to think of the brash girl. She was small for her age and bright with her chosen attire. Her blond hair that was tied back in a high pony tail danced in the wind like intimate lovers. Her bright blue eyes complimented her tan skin tone. Unlike most of the girl's who attended the Academy, this one, this Uzumaki Natsuki held a natural beauty that many could only wish for, Sasuke admitted to his self.

"Hey Natsuki-san, I'll race ya!" Kiba suddenly yelled from Sasuke's right.

Natsuki looked up in thought, "Loser treats the winner to ramen!" She yelled.

"But I hate ramen!" Kiba whined.

"It's okay, young grasshopper," Natsuki said, "You'll lose anyways."

Deidara and Hidan began to laugh loudly.

"If he loses," Deidara began with tears in his eyes.

"She'll clean him out." Hidan finished as he tried, and failed, to keep his best friend from face planting on the floor.

"What do they mean?" Sai asked Itachi.

Itachi sighed sheepishly, "She has a large appetite."

Upon hearing this, Neji scoffed, "It can't be much in comparison to Kiba's."

Hidan stopped laughing for a moment to stare seriously at the younger Hyuuga, "Dude, she beat me in an eating contest."

"Twice!" Deidara added.

"Is that true?" Sasuke asked his older brother.

Itachi nodded, "Sadly."

"Okay youthful young students!" The teacher, Might Guy, began once most of the class was there, "You may begin running your 50 laps of the day!"

Itachi nodded to Deidara and Hidan to go sit in the bleachers to watch the race between Kiba and Natsuki while trying to keep out of the giggling school girls' eye.

"Who do you think will win?" He asked his two oldest friends.

"Natsuki-chan." They said in sync without hesitation.

Itachi nodded as his eyes were kept to Natsuki's running form.

"Man," Hidan said, biting his lip, "Look at her run."

Deidara whistled in agreement.

Itachi inwardly sighed as he reached both his arms out and promptly hit his perverse friends in the back of the head, but secretly, Itachi couldn't help but agree with them.

Uzumaki Natsuki certainly was beautiful.

* * *

"So now that you've seen her, what do you think of her?" Sai asked Sasuke as they, -Sai, Neji, and Sasuke- began to jog at a fast pace.

"She's… different." Sasuke answered uncertainly as he kept his eyes on the racing Uzumaki.

"So different, she's apparently not a woman." Neji said quietly.

Sai looked at his pale eyed friend, "I thought you said she was cute?"

"That was before I was informed that she was a beast in disguise." Neji huffed.

"Is Hyuuga a little disappointed she wasn't what he thought she was?" Sai teased.

"And what did I think she was?" Neji questioned his pale friend.

"Not a beast in disguise, that's for sure." Sasuke said with a laugh with Neji and Sai soon joining.

* * *

"How many laps you on, Natsuki-san?" Kiba asked

"Just keep running until you finish yours!" Natsuki said with a laugh as she continued running.

Kiba huffed out a small laugh and began to run faster.

Minutes passed, and finally both competitors were at the finish line.

Natsuki had finished minutes before Kiba and was ecstatic at her obvious win, and the free food.

"How… are… you… not breathing… hard?" Kiba said in between breaths.

Natsuki scoffed, "That was nothing."

Sasuke, along with Neji and Sai, were approaching their friend when they heard the small girl's reply. She thought that was nothing while their most active friend was on the floor panting?

That was madness.

"Good job, Natsuki-chan!" Deidara yelled as he got off the bleachers and reached the group.

Natsuki turned her head and smiled at the approaching blonde, "Thanks, Deidara."

Behind Deidara were Itachi and Hidan. Itachi nodded his congratulations to the small blonde while Hidan smirked, "Never doubted you, Natsuki-chan." He said.

"What do you mean, 'that was nothing'?" Sai asked with curiosity.

Natsuki shrugged, "My brother use to train me with weights when I was growing up." She answered simply like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Neji nodded, remembering similar training he and his friend Lee would do to gain speed. "What's the highest mass you could do?" He asked.

Natsuki looked up in thought, "More than 50 lbs, easy. As for specifics, I don't know."

"Why did your brother train you? How come your parents didn't just enroll you in a athletic sport with a real trainer?" Sasuke said coldly.

Deidara and Hidan suddenly stop bickering, and the large track became deathly quiet.

Natsuki turned her hardened eyes towards the youngest Uchiha and scoffed, "Not everyone has the luxury of having their parents, Uchiha."

With that, Natsuki turned and quickly left.

Sasuke eyes widened a fraction as he stared at the now emptied spot previously occupied by the bright blonde. He felt like a major asshole, which was a new found feeling for the youngest Uchiha. How was he supposed to know she didn't have parents? His curiosity suddenly got the best of him. Soon after she left, Sasuke was plagued with more questions about the only interesting girl he had ever met. He found himself wondering how she became an orphan. Did she know her parents? What happened to them? As the questions came, Sasuke felt the huge urge to find the girl and apologize for such an ignorant thing he had said, which surprised him. He wasn't a person who apologized often. In Sasuke's whole lifetime, he could count exactly how many times he had apologized with one hand.

Sasuke looked at his older brother with regret in his eyes, but when he looked at Itachi, Sasuke was taken aback by Itachi's expression. Itachi was angry, that was clear, but his anger looked to be the violent kind. Itachi was a known pacifist in the family and to see Itachi with such an expression on his face, Sasuke was shocked, to say the least. Even more shocking that Itachi was not looking at anyone else with the expression that clearly read 'I want to throttle you', except at him, Sasuke.

In the back of his mind, Sasuke deduced that Uzumaki Natsuki clearly means something to his closest brother.

"Why would you tell her something like that?" Itachi questioned in anger.

"I," Sasuke began quickly to defend his self, but with a huff, he thought it no use, "I don't know." He said with guilt, not meeting his brother's angry eyes.

With a disapproving glance, Itachi walked away from his younger brother. Following him were his two friends, Deidara and Hidan, who also shot Sasuke a disapproving glance.

"That was kind of fucked up." Neji said, breaking the silence that had fell over the group.

Kiba scoffed, "You're one to talk." He said humorlessly.

"I would have never thought Kiba would have been bested in a sport by a girl." Sai said randomly.

Kiba's face turned red in embarrassment, "Running is not a sport." He said with a scoff and a turn of the head.

"Says you." Sasuke huffed.

"She seriously kicked your ass." Sai said.

Kiba's face grew a darker shade of red, "She did not!"

Neji deadpanned, "Dude, you were on the floor trying to breathe while she hardly looked like she broke a sweat."

"Just shut up." Kiba whined as he tried to hide his embarrassment from his friends to no avail.

The group busted into laugher, even Kiba, at the awkward silence that followed.

"I'm going to lay of the field and wait for you guys." Kiba said, walking away from the group.

Since Kiba had already finished his daily laps, he didn't have much of a reason to stay, but since his small group of friends weren't done with theirs, he decided to wait for them and get a bit of shut eye before their afternoon classes.

Kiba laid on a cool piece of land and slowly began to relax. After all that running, he was beat.

"Ugh I can't believe that little slut tried to get pity from them!" Kiba heard a female voice say.

"I know! And to go up to Kiba-kun and demand a race and then to CHEAT! Who does that hideous whore think she is?" Kiba heard another female voice say.

Kiba rolled over, on to his chest, to look in direction of the two voices, to see who was speaking. It was the two most annoying girls in their grade. Kiba didn't even notice he had this period with them, them being Yamanaka Ino, and her best friend, Haruno Sakura.

Sakura was a petite girl with 'natural' pink hair that only reached her shoulders, and emerald green eyes. Her skin was fair and unblemished with a tint of light pink on her cheeks. She was a looker, Kiba could admit, but he knew of the hideous beast she kept hidden since they were in primary together. She was one the most popular girls in all of the high school section of the Academy and was Shinobi Academy's co-captain to the cheer squad along with her best friend, Yamanaka Ino.

Yamanaka Ino was different, yet the same, as her best friend. Ino's pale blonde locks reached her mid back when it was usually placed in a high pony tail. Her eyes were a pale, but still pretty, shade of blue. Her skin was fair, if not lighter, and unblemished as Haruno Sakura's. Ino's body was just the slightest bit smaller than Sakura's from her constant dieting.

Although Kiba wasn't exactly the brightest fruit loop in the box, he had a pretty good guess about who they're talking about. It angered him probably more than it should have, but they no right to call anyone names but themselves. Kiba could remember how he first met her at the Academy. Despite what Sasuke's older brother Itachi had said, Kiba would have known whether a girl like Natsuki Uzumaki had indeed resided in their large village, so when Itachi had mentioned she lived in Konoha, Kiba had hidden his shock.

Even though it angered him that those girls were talking bad about Natsuki, he could understand why some shallow girls held a strong grudge against the youngest Uzumaki. Uzumaki Natsuki was pretty, beautiful even. With her golden tanned skin, bright natural blonde hair –a rarity in Japan-, and deep blue eyes, it was hard to describe the girl as anything but beautiful. She could easily take any man's breath away without having to try. She was modest about her body and didn't care what others have to think about her. When Itachi had spilled the beans about her underground fighting, Kiba can't think of her as anything else but a beautiful warrior.

* * *

As Kiba lay in the cool grass, he couldn't help but replay when he had first met her. It was the start of freshman year, and their first week on campus. Kiba had went to library to find a book one of his teachers had said that he needed. He found the book being stored in the darkest corner of the library. As he pulled the book off the shelf, something bright orange had fallen right on top of him. He rubbed the back of his head with a scowl, trying to ease the pain of hitting the adjacent wall. Opening his mouth to yell at what had fallen on top of him he heard a feminine whine, "Ow." He could almost hear the pout in the voice.

Looking down to see what, _who, _landed in his lap, he was startled to find the blonde beauty rubbing her head, trying to ease the pain, while her eyes remained closed. He blushed at their proximity to each other and awkwardly coughed, gaining the blonde's attention. Blue eyes met brown. Quickly noticing how close –she was literally sitting in his lap- they were, her eyes widened and she quickly tried to back away as fast as she could, only in succeeding in hitting her head on one of the book shelves behind her.

"I'm sorry." They both yelled simultaneously.

"Why are you sorry?" She asked, breaking the silence.

Kiba shrugged, "How'd you fall?" He asked.

The blonde rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "I kind of fell asleep on top of the bookcase and I guess I rolled over."

Kiba grinned, "Talk about rude awakening, huh?" He joked.

His grin was infectious because soon she was grinning back at him, "Yeah." She said.

* * *

That was the first time she had taken his breath away with just her smile. They had hung out for a few weeks until going their separate ways, but Kiba had never forgotten her or the affect she had one him. Since then, Kiba often tried to find out how she was doing and would often check how high she ranked after any exams more than checking his own marks.

Kiba must have fallen asleep since soon, he was shaken awake by Sai.

"Afternoon classes have been cancelled." Sasuke informed the groggy brunette.

"Why." Kiba asked as he sat up and tried to rub the sleepiness away from his eyes.

"The campus is being visited by a mayor of someplace to view how the campus looks, or something." Sasuke answered lazily.

"That means we can go see the Uzumaki fight tonight." Sai said in thought.

Kiba nodded as he stood up. Stretching his arms, Kiba, Sasuke, Neji, and Sai quickly made their way to the dorms to get what they needed for tonight.

* * *

Natsuki opened her eyes at the sound of giggling and keys from outside her dorm room. The door slammed opened and Natsuki was greeted with eyes of hatred by her roommate, Haruno Sakura, and her roommate's best friend, Yamanaka Ino.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura said with disgust.

Natsuki sighed loudly, "For a smart girl, you sure are dumb."

Sakura's eyes widened at what was said. No one had dared speak to her that way since _ever_, except for Uzumaki, and Sakura hated it. "What did you say?" Sakura screeched.

"I live here, idiot." Natsuki said as she closed her eyes.

Ino scoffed, "C'mon Sakura. It's almost 6. Grab your stuff so you can get ready in my dorm and away from this lowlife."

Natsuki rolled her eyes.

Sakura glared at the relaxed Natsuki and with a turn of her head, Sakura quickly left the room, but not before slamming the door closed first.

Natsuki opened one eye, checking to make sure no one was in the room. Finding the room emptied, she quickly got up and entered her closet.

Grabbing a fresh pair of tight black skinny jeans, a plain red tank top, and her favorite pair of combat boots, Natsuki dressed quickly. Stepping out of her closet, Natsuki stood in front of her reflection, eyeing the scars that riddled her lightly tanned skin. He arms were filled with different scars going in all different directions. Natsuki knew that if she would have lifted up her shirt, she would be greeted another herd of scars. Natsuki sighed and untied the thick orange ribbon from her neck that hid the most hideous scars, the one where her throat was slashed. The scar was thick and bumpy, showing that it was still healing. She lightly traced it with her fingers and winced when she felt the roughness. Natsuki sighed once more before tying a black ribbon around her neck, masking the scar from view.

Quickly grabbing her black fitted leather jacket and her keys, Natsuki quickly made her way out of the dorms and in to the back of the library. The library was on the far edge of the campus. The only way outside of the campus without getting caught was through the fence that gated the whole Academy campus. Behind the library was a gate that not many people knew about and even less people had the key to it.

Being the library aid definitely had its perks.

Natsuki opened the gate silently and quickly made her way through it, closing it only slightly for the other people who wished to go out this lovely Thursday evening. Natsuki walked through the thick forest that surrounds the Academy until she was greeted by the sight of her love, an all black Ninja ZX – 14R, a supersport motorcycle.

Natsuki smiled and pulled out her keys from her leather pocket. Getting one, she adjusted her jacket by zipping it up and placed her black helmet on her head. Turning on her baby, she felt it roar to life. She sat there on it, feeling the hum of her bike. Smiling, she pressed the gas and slowly eased herself out of the forest and onto the nearby road. When she reached the road, she kicked up her stand, leaned forward, and pressed the gas harder than before, making her way quickly to the warehouse district where everyone was waiting for her.

Everyone including her brother and their little family he had brought with him.

* * *

_I just want to thank all those who reviewed. You guys pushed me to do my best._

**_Lapsis angelus Jeullienne_**

**_daekhuntressxir_**

**_Mookyulie_**

**_Dei-kunxoxo_**

**_PervertAnimeOtaku _**_- Great name, by the way. As for your question, since the very beginning, I had no idea who Natsuki would be paired with. Personally, I like Itachi better too, but I want Sasuke to have a fair chance too. :c Decisions... decisions... decisions... _


	3. A Promise

_**Hi and hello, dear readers.**_

_**First and foremost I must apologize in the delay of update. My schedule has been tiring this past week. Practice every day after school, end of course testing during school, and nerve-racking AP tests can make any week tiring. It doesn't help that my mother believes that I must be her humble servant and have to do everything she says. -.-**_

_**Sorry, am I ranting?**_

_**Anyhow, although I do appreciate the positive 'love' –cough reviews cough- I have been receiving, I would appreciate any criticism to help improve my writing.**_

_**Well, I do report one positive thing during the week was that I could write after testing. \(o_o)/**_

_**On with the story!**_

Natsuki arrived inside the large warehouse district. Many foreign companies used the area to house certain materials needed to operate their company, but the district was not guarded at all and located in the middle of Wave country. A vast majority of the warehouses looked similar to one another, being large and white, and easily blended into each other.

Natsuki slowed her bike into a complete stop near a corner of one of the larger warehouses. Taking off her helmet, Natsuki closed her eyes and listen intently for the grand pulsing of the music. This was how she could find which one of the warehouses that the underground was taking place in this week. Usually the address would have been texted to someone who was known to attend, but Natsuki was completely lost when it came to directions, so instead, Natsuki relied on her sensitive hearing to get where she was going. Finally haring the music that made the ground throb, Natsuki smirked, put back on her helmet, and turned to her left, gradually feeling the pulsing of the music as she drove through the district towards her destination.

She knew she had finally arrived at the correct warehouse when she began to notice more and more cars parked closer together. Most knew to park their cars in a fashion to make a quick getaway in case of cops who liked to bust the party on random nights. As she got closer to the pulsing music, more and more people were popping up in the same direction she was going. Some of them were fashionably dressed men and most were skimpy dressed women, hoping to have a good time tonight. The crowd became thicker, and soon Natsuki had to rev her engine so the people in front of her would get out of the way. Some of the passersby stared in awe at the small figure on a nice bike, while others stared at the same person in awe for a different reason; She was rather famous in the underground, most often called the 'Demon of the Ring' because of her intense skill inside of the fighting ring. She was known to have no mercy on those who were unlucky enough to share the ring with her.

Continuing on, the crowd soon began to separate like the Red Sea, allowing her to quickly get inside the warehouse. Most knew not to get in her way as she drove inside the warehouse, but there were always the few who were either too stupid or too naïve to move from where they were standing, but there were always those good bystanders that quickly pulled them out of the way to avoid any blood stains on her tires.

Easing into a stop, Natsuki pulled off her helmet and quickly looked around the warehouse for the familiar mop of red hair that was her brother's. Quickly spotting the red headed male, surrounded by their own adopted family, Natsuki smirked and eased her way towards them all the while ignoring the looks she was receiving from onlookers.

As if sensing her eyes on him, her brother, Kurama, turned his head to meet his blue eyes to her own. All around were the people who they considered family, they had all grew up the same as them, unwanted by their own village and unloved.

Nii Yugito, known as Ito-chan by Natsuki, was the first of their family. She was only a few years older the Kurama, who was 21, but still looked up to him as if it was the opposite. She had pale straight blonde hair that tied into a low pony tail that reached the middle of her back while her eyes were a dark chocolate. She stood tall at about 5'7" with fair skin. She wore a slim fit black fully sleeved shirt that had an outline of a purple butterfly near the right of her hip and matching black pants. She was also one of the few that hand a last name. Her stance screamed confidence as she talked to Fu and Killer B.

Fu was only two years older than Natsuki herself, but often acted younger. She had short spiky mint green hair and orange eyes. She was about 5'5" with tan skin. On her right arm a small but noticeable tattoo of a blue koi fish. She was one of toughest out of their makeshift family and often spent more time in the garage Roshi owned to earn some extra cash fixing up cars. She enjoyed things like sports and cars more than anything else and often neglected her appearance, much to Yugito's dismay. She wore a white midriff daring shirt that hung loosely over her figure and tight fitting jeans.

Killer B was almost the same age as Yugito, with only being a few months older. His blonde hair was in corn rolls that held small beads at the end while on his face was the same hair in a goatee on his chin He was darker than the rest, and stood at the same height as Kurama, if not a tiny bit shorter. B usually wore only khaki shorts that hugged his hips lovingly, showing off the muscular body for all to see. On his right arm was a tattoo of the kanji for Iron. B always wore dark sunglass, and no one has seen him without them. Next to B was Roshi and Han, who often talked to one another, being the two oldest.

Roshi was almost 45 years old, and easily the oldest in their family. Most of the group looked to Roshi as a father figure. He was only a few inches shorter than Kurama and B, but he was a bulky looking man for his age. His red hair was tied up to the top of his head and looked like a flame when the wind blows. Framing his chin was his out grown mustache and beard. He wore dark pants and a long sleeved light red shirt. He was tough old man, Natsuki could admit having her fair share of arguments with him, and stubborn too. He wasn't soft hearted by any means, but had taken in several of the unwanted children during his travels. Most of them had left, much to his secret dismay, but the few –B, Yugito, Fu, Han, Utakata, Yagura, Kurama, and Natsuki- who had stayed would think of him as their father they never had.

Han was the oldest one out of them, only a year ahead of Yugito, and was the first Roshi had adopted. He was the tallest out of the group, standing a head taller than Kurama and B. He wore a plain black kimono with red accents in various places. He wore a straw hat that covered top of head and a white cloth that covered the bottom of his face, only leaving his light brown eyes visible. Although he wasn't a lazy guy, he held himself in a very laid back manner. He didn't speak often and was usually the calmest out of the group followed by Utakata who was having an interesting conversation with the most outspoken of the group, Yagura.

Utakata was a calm, not very talkative man. He, like Han, often wore kimonos. His was a light blue kimono decorated with three bubbles on his back. He was only an inch shorter than Kurama and wasn't bulky like B. His eyes were a pale golden and he had brown hair that reached his shoulder. The front part of his hair was parted so that it would almost completely cover the left side of his face. He was a year older than Fu, about 20 years of age. Although he was a calm man, he also had a carefree personality. Next to Utakata was Yagura.

Yagura was the most outspoken of them all. He was the same age as Fu, two years older than Natsuki. Although he was outspoken, he was also very formal and composed most of the time. He was very loyal to those he considered family. He had messy light grey hair and pink eyes. He has a scar under his left eyes going all the way down his cheek. He wore a grey short sleeved shirt with khaki shorts. He stood at about 5'8".

When Natsuki had reached them, she looked at her makeshift family and inwardly smiled. They were all there, taking to one another with the edges of their lips tilting upwards, while not bothering to talk to, or meet, anyone else around them. There were a large number of men and women surrounding them, taking in their beauty, but none of Natsuki's family noticed as they were too engrossed into the conversations they were having with each other. It's safe to say they were pretty much an exclusive group.

"You're fighting tonight?" Kurama asked when Natsuki had gotten off her bike.

"Geez, no "Hey sis, how are ya?" first?" She said sarcastically as she kicked the stand for her bike to rest on.

Kurama grinned at his little sister, his blue eyes lighting up. He quickly pulled his tiny sister into a large hug and said, "Missed ya, sis."

Natsuki rolled her eyes at her older brother, but nonetheless accepted his embrace and returned it.

"Hey! Stop hogging Natsu-chan, Kura-kun!" Yagura and Fu yelled simultaneously.

Natsuki released her brother and smiled at the rest of her family. Utakata, Fu, Yugito, and Yagura were the closets one to her and quickly embraced her in a tight hug, followed by B, Han, and Roshi.

Turning back to Kurama, Natsuki said, "I always fight, brother."

Kurama grimaced slightly, but Natsuki saw it, "I hate seeing you fight."

Natsuki looked up at him, taking a good look at her handsome brother. He was tall, a great deal taller than her, standing at a good 6'2". His red hair was choppy; framing is fair skinned face and barely met his broad shoulders. His eyes, like Natsuki's, were a brilliant blue like their father's, while his hair was red like their mother's.

Natsuki smiled, "It's the only thing I'm good at besides eating."

Kurama laughed openly, knowing what she said was true. She was really good at eating.

"Hey, Natsuki, you're first round tonight!" Asuma said.

Asuma was the person who usually hosted the fighting match. He was the guy you go to when you wanted to put yourself in the ring. He was also the one who set up all of the matches. He was an average sized man with brown eyes and dark brown hair that matched his beard. He often had a cigarette in his mouth and socialized in a very laid back manner.

"Damnit, Asuma! Why do I gotta go first?" Natsuki growled as she made her way towards the ring.

The crowd before once again separated themselves, making room for the small girl to walk as she pleased with her brother and their makeshift family following.

Standing in the middle of the ring in front of her was a large brute of a man. He was taller than Kurama, but not as tall as Han. He was just as, if not more, muscular than B. He was fair skinned with a black bandana resting on top of his head, hiding any hair that he possibly had. He wore a large black overcoat, a white tank, and faded blue jeans. His only visible eye was narrow and looked to be a light brown while the right side of his face were his eye was suppose to was a black eye patch. Natsuki could see a large scar going from his chin to the top of his head, crossing were his right eye should have been. When he spotted Natsuki standing inside the ring before him, his lips moved into a lecherous grin.

"I get to fight this little shrimp?" The large man boasted loudly.

Several onlookers in the crowd who had seen some of the Demon of the Ring's fights winced at the man's words while Natsuki just kept a blank expression on her face.

"What's wrong little girl?" The man began, "Too scared to fight?"

Natsuki yawned loudly, "Let's get this over with." She said bored.

The man was slightly put off by the girl's bored tone, but quickly put it in the back of his mind.

"What are you waiting for, little girl?" The man sneered.

Natsuki looked at her nails and picked at them, "For you to grow some balls and hit me."

Several male members of the audience snickered at them man's now red face.

The man's face soon turned even redder with rage as her words sunk in. "I'll show you, you little bitch!" He yelled as he swung his meaty fist.

Natsuki dodged with ease as the man tried to hit the girl. He came at her like a raging bull as she danced around him like the wind. The man was becoming more and more angrier as the girl continued to make a fool out of him by dodging all of his attempts to hit her. Onlookers watched in awe as she continued to move around the man without using her arms, just her legs. Some of them could swear that she didn't even have here eyes open.

Hearing some of the bystanders were saying, the man's anger grew. He looked at the small girl with pure fury raging in his eyes.

"Come here and be the whore you're mother taught ya to be, bitch." He yelled in rage.

Natsuki's left eye twitched while Kurama's jaw clenched. Natsuki didn't move from where she was standing and just stared at the man with an unreadable expression.

The man growled and pulled out a switch blade from the pocket of jeans. "Come on, fucking whore!" He roared, taunting her to come at him while all she did was simply stare at the man.

"What's wrong, bitch? Too scared to get a cut on that smooth skin?" He sneered.

Natsuki's unreadable expression soon changed into a smirk. "Too scared to get cut?" She mocked.

She clutched her laughed and clutched her stomach.

"What the fuck you laughing at?" The man roared.

Natsuki smirked at the man, "I'll show you what little 'smooth skin' I have!" She yelled with her eyes wide, giving her a crazed look. Quickly taking off her jacket, she revealed the scars that ran all over her arms and upper chest.

The man gapped at what she revealed. Obviously he wasn't expecting that.

Natsuki threw her jacket at her brother, knowing that he would hold it until she finished.

With a sadistic grin, she yelled at the man, "I don't need toys to make someone bleed!"

The man tightened his hold on the knife, "I'll bleed you dry."

Natsuki's sadistic grin widened, and with two words the large man would meet the beast they call the Demon of the Ring.

"Let's dance."

Kurama visibly winced when he saw his little sister's scars that riddled her body.

"To have so many scars and still stand strong is remarkable." Roshi said as he watched the youngest of them all fight.

"I wonder if she hates them." Yagura said as he followed the young blonde's movements.

"She bears them with pride, as she should." Han said.

Kurama narrowed his eyes, studying his younger sister fight, "I should have never left her."

With the questioning eyes of his family starring at the back of his head, Kurama continued to study his sister's fighting ability.

"Hurry up, man!" Kiba yelled as they made their way inside the warehouse.

Sasuke smirked at one of the girls who were giving him lusty eyes as their group passed by. In his pocket was only the money he needed and his keys. Sai stood to the left of him with a blank expression on his pale face. On the right of Sasuke was Neji, who was following the movements of some of the women surrounding them. Kiba was standing directly in front of the group, hoping to finally see the underground fights they had heard so much about, while not paying attention to the amount of lustful eyes on their group as they walked.

Sasuke was only dressed in dark jeans and a black button up shirt that was left unbuttoned at the top to show off his masculine chest. His eyes trailed over the many women around him, silently deciding which one looked good enough to deserve his attention tonight.

Neji dressed in a similar manner except instead of a black button up shirt, he wore a white one. His chocolate drown hair was tied in a low pony tail while his pale eyes were hidden by a pair of designer sunglasses. He, like Sasuke, was looking over the surrounding women, looking for one that looked good enough for some of his time.

Sai was wearing his typical black skinny jeans that hung low on his waist and a black slim fit t-shirt that had one of his designs decorated on it. He didn't care for the women who viewed him like meat. He didn't need a stress reliever tonight, much to the dismay of some of the women.

Kiba sported a pair of black shorts and a red short sleeved shirt that hugged his bulging biceps tenderly. Typically, Kiba's eyes would be roaming for some entertainment but tonight, he was in a hurry to see some of the infamous fights. Even then, Kiba didn't spare any of the nameless women a glance because he knew if what Itachi had said was true than he would be seeing a particular blonde girl, and having a slutty woman hanging off his arm would have just messed up his game.

"Hey, Sasuke, is your brother coming tonight?" Kiba asked as they made their way through the thick crowd.

Sasuke scoffed, "Which one?"

Kiba shrugged, "Any of them."

"Madara and Itachi for sure," Sasuke answered, "I don't know if Obito would bring Rin, and Izuna has a date. I think Tobi got in trouble with Madara."

Neji raised his eyebrow, "Izuna has a date?"

Sasuke shrugged, "That's what he said."

Getting near the edge of the ring, Kiba stopped to look around, hoping to see a familiar mop of blonde hair that he was so fond of.

"She's not here yet." A voice said from behind Kiba.

Kiba turned around quickly to see a smirking Itachi. Behind Itachi were Obito, Rin, Obito's best friend, and the rest of Itachi's crew.

In Itachi's crew was Hidan, Deidara, Sasori, Pein, Konan, Kakuzu, and Kisame, Itachi's best friend.

"Who do you think I'm looking for?" Kiba asked.

Deidara scoffed, "You're looking for Natsu-chan."

Kiba looked at the blonde long haired male with a glare.

Sasuke nodded, greeting his two brothers and future sister-in-law.

"Can't say 'Hello', Sasu-chan?" Kakashi, Obito's best friend, teased.

Sasuke growled, "Shut up, Hatake."

Obito laughed nervously while Rin looked between one of her oldest friend and her boyfriend's baby brother.

"I can't wait to see the Demon's fight tonight! I hear she's up first tonight." The group heard a neighboring group.

Kiba looked towards Itachi, "That is the 'Demon'?"

"They've never been to see the ring?" Kisame asked.

Itachi shook his head and Kisame laughed loudly. "They're in for a big surprise then." He said in between laughs.

Hidan and Deidara hurriedly agreed and went back to their game of 'Spot the loosest whore' while Pein and Konan were having their one of many couples' moment, meaning they were heavily making out in the crowd. It was kind of cute it you think about it. Strongly think about it.

"Hey, Natsuki, you're first round tonight!" Kiba heard a voice to their left say.

Kiba and the rest of the group turned to see a tall bearded man walking back towards them,

"That's Asuma Sarutobi." Itachi said after a moment.

"Wait, Sarutobi?" Neji asked.

"Yep, like the head master for the high school!" Kisame answered.

"So… He's the head master?" Kiba asked.

Sasuke deadpanned at his idiot friend, "No, dobe."

"So then why did Fish Man say that?"

Kisame gasped in mock horror, "Fish Man, am I that ugly?"

Sasuke glared at the tall man, "Asuma's father is the head master."

Itachi blinked in surprise, "You already knew him?"

Sasuke nodded, "I'm not as dumb as you think aniki."

"Really," Kakashi said loudly, "I would've never guessed."

Sasuke glared at the older grey haired man.

A tick mark appeared on Kakashi's head, "IT'S SILVER!"

"Hey." Kiba said, looking at Itachi, "Didn't they say the 'Demon' was fighting first too?"

"Yep." Deidara said as he continued his game with Hidan.

"Natsuki might get hurt!" Kiba gasped.

Hidan and Deidara stopped their game, Pein and Konan put their couple moment at a pause, and Kisame stopped flicking Sai in the head to see if he could get a reaction out of the emotionless male, and they laughed, HARD.

Pein was even on the floor clutching his stomach.

That was incredibly rare.

"What did I say?" Kiba asked Sai, who merely shrugged in response.

"Let's just watch, dobe." Sasuke said as he pushed forward in the crowd to get situated near the front to get a good sight of the just beginning fight.

When Sasuke saw the sight before him, he gasped. Natsuki, the small girl that she was, was dodging almost every throw the beefy would make, almost effortlessly. She didn't look like she was even putting stain in any of her movements. Her body just _flowed. _It was beautiful, he could admit.

"Ah, Uzumaki Natsuki, a definite sight to see." A deep voice said from behind him.

Sasuke tilted his raven head back slightly to be greeted with the sight of his oldest brother, Madara. Looking back at the ever flowing body of the blonde Uzumaki, Sasuke nodded.

A deep chuckle rumbled through Madara's chest. "She will always be the best student I have ever taught."

"You taught her?" Sasuke asked as he kept an eye on the young girl's movements against the brute who was pinned against her.

"Yes. It was even before I came here. She was almost 4 when I had the honor of meeting her."

'_Honor? _Sasuke thought, _'Since when does Madara-nii speak so highly of anyone? Just who is this girl?'_

"So she really is from Konoha?" Kiba asked.

Madara nodded, "Not the greatest past with the village, but she's unlike no one else."

Sasuke could faintly hear what his brother had said while his eyes continued to study the enigma known as Uzumaki Natsuki. He watched as her beefy opponent took out a pocket knife in attempt to scare her into defeat, but she said nothing. Her opponent then turned to insults which she made no indication of hearing, she just stared at the bulky man with a blank expression. But when the large man said she was scared of scars, her mind must have snapped back into reality. She smirked, and then began laughing, as if he was a famous comedian saying a great one liner.

Sasuke watched as the small blonde haired took off her black leather jacket and revealed her arms that were no stranger to scars. They were laced with them, all around, almost forming some sort of taboo tribal design. He watched as the man's lecherous grin faltered into a frown at the sight of her.

_Not the greatest past with the village…. _Those words rang in his ears, over and over in his mind.

Although Sasuke thought himself to be nothing short of a genius that could figure most plots of a book by just reading the first chapter, but he had to wonder, did her scared body and what his oldest and wisest brother's words have something in common.

There was only one simplified solution, he concluded, and it was to know and understand the enigma that was Uzumaki Natsuki.

That was a promise.


	4. The Past with the Present

_This is a really short chapter, sorry. I wanted it to be longer, but thought you guys waited long enough. So lets just call this a teaser for next chapter._

**_Remember, the poll is still active. _**_So, go to my profile to vote on who you wish Natsuki to end up with. If you can't vote, feel free to drop a review about your **opinions**and/or who you wish Natsuki to have a romantic relationship with. And, if you'd like, who Kurama should pursue. _

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**The Academy**

**Chapter Four**

For the first time in days, Natsuki felt _alive_. Every day she had to deal with the looks her peers would give her, although they never notice how much those looks affected her. She could never understand why those looks of disgust, and often times, hatred could affect her so. Every day, as far back as she could remember, she had always seen those eyes in every one around her, except for two.

Her brother had always been there, in her memories, when she was a child. He taught her everything growing up. He taught her how to survive off of the nature that surrounded them when the villagers had run them out of the village. Natsuki held no memories of the life they had before the streets, she held no memories of the woman who had bore her or of the man who had helped in her creation. She could only remember her red headed brother who had taken their place.

For as long as she could remember, the villager of the Leaf had always hated her and Kurama. She did not know the reason, but knew it had something to do with the past she had no memory of.

Her first memory was when she was about five. Her blonde hair was up in two pony tails, and she wore red overalls that were slightly bigger with an orange shirt underneath. Her feet were clear of any shoes and were rough and dirty due to the ground she walked on. Tucked between her stubby tan arms was a red stuffed fox. Natsuki did not know where she had gotten it, but she knew it was _old. _Beside her was her brother, Kurama. He was a tall boy of the age of nine. The ends of his shaggy red hair barely met his shoulder. He wore blue shorts that were obviously too small for the boy and a large black shirt. He walked besides Natsuki, with a small hand placed protectively on her back as they walked through the village. Glares where shot at them, but they paid no attention just keeping sight at the floor in front of them.

When she had reached the ripe of age of twelve and her brother the age of sixteen, her brother decided it was time they left the rotten village they had lived in. He had saved up some money from the odd jobs he had taken up doing to support him and his sister. Although he could have definitely made more money inside the gang life, he never turned his head in that direction for the protection of Natsuki. She was all he had, and he knew that if he had gotten caught up in the gang life, her life would be in more danger than it ever was.

In the days before they were to leave, Natsuki had caught a very dangerous sickness. Kurama had taken her to the only person he knew that would help them, Umino Iruka. When Kurama and Natsuki had lived in the orphanage for a short period of time, they had met with Iruka. He was one of the oldest, at the age of fifteen when he had met an eight year old Kurama and the four year old Natsuki. Iruka was the only person to give them a chance, and as a result, became a sort of older brother figure for them, becoming fiercely protective of them. When Iruka was sixteen, he was emancipated and left the village to pursue an education. He had come back to the village when Natsuki was ten, with a degree to be able to become a teacher in the medical field.

Iruka examined Natsuki and informed a stricken Kurama that she would not survive if she were to travel. A few days passed, and the newly awaken Natsuki told her brother to leave without her. In the days that followed, a reluctant Kurama had left the village and a saddened Natsuki had cried.

Days went by, than weeks, followed by months had followed without word from her dear brother, Natsuki was convinced that something terrible had happened. During that time, though, Iruka worked eagerly with two of his most trusted people to educate Natsuki, in hopes that she would catch up with the rest of the children her age. She had surpassed all of their expectations by going through all of her education within a year. With the grief of her dearest brother's possible death soon catching up to her, she quickly found an escape, underground fighting.

She had stumbled upon it one night. Iruka had been working nights during that time, so to pass the empty minutes that seem to fill her every waking moment, Natsuki would walk through village. When she felt the pulsing of the music beneath her feet, her legs followed what she felt in careful steps, soon meeting the sound of music whose beats matched the pulsing that moved through her body.

Although she did not know it, but she had just found her release for all of bundled up emotion. She knew she had serious skill with her fighting ability since her harsh childhood had made it as a lifelong training session.

She didn't have any money to enter herself in the ring, but a few of the members from a famous gang, The Hokages, had noticed her when she first came. They were always kind to her and Kurama, and had known of the struggles they faced. They brought her up to their leader at that time, and he decided to sponsor her, knowing she had yet to be in the ring.

That day was the day her world changed. She had become more involved in the gang life, making friends in the highest places of the Hokages. She didn't ask to be in the gang, and they didn't ask, but she was held in high respect.

By the time she was fifteen, she had moved out of Iruka's, and lived in her own apartment with the money she earned from her weekly fights. When Kurama had come back with a pack of his own, he had found her in the middle of a fight. It was safe to say he was not happy to what he had come back to.

Natsuki's mind had finally snapped back inside her head. This would happen often; she figured it out over the years, it was as if her body was on auto pilot. She didn't have to think about her movements, her body just reacted on her own.

She was crouching on top of the beast of a man who was now full of blood coming from various places Natsuki could see. Her small fist was less than an inch from the man's face, so close she could feel the heat coming from the man's body. His eyes were open, but Natsuki could only see the white of his eyes while he breathed ragged breaths.

Behind her, the silence that had taken place had broken like a damn with cheers of excitement coming from the men and women surrounding her. Quickly, Natsuki jumped up and with a heavy breath, she turned to meet the endless black eyes. She could scarcely make out who it was that grabbed her wrist and pulled her through a crowd. All she knew was that the hand that gripped her wrist was large, warm, and unknowingly comforting to her.


	5. MY MILKSHAKES BRINGS ALL THE BOYS TO THE

This is a really, really _tiny_ chapter. I wasn't really feeling this chapter too much. But hopefully this small minichapter will make do for now until I can come with a more solid chapter.

**Any ideas?**

Before I go, I'd like to give a special THANK YOU to those who have reviewed, favorited, followed, and viewed. And a very SPECIAL THANK YOU especially to those who reviewed-

by that I mean,

PervertAnimeOtaku

Dei-kunxoxo

Mookyulie

Lapsis angelus Jullienne

Glassstar93

Darklife21

And darkhuntressxir who has continuosly supported this story.

**THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH! (':**

-U

* * *

Natsuki looked down in her hand to see a small black IPod. It was the first thing she had ever bought with the money she had earned herself, granted that she earned the money by beating people senseless, but it was money she had earned herself nonetheless. On the back of the IPod was an engraving that she had done the same day she had gotten the small music player. She didn't even know that it was possible to engrave a something so delicate and costly, but in the end when the salesman had told her it was possible for a few more dollars, so of course she couldn't say no.

Natsuki's thumb traced over the small words that held such a large meaning to her.

_Refuse to sink. _The words read, and every day since she had gotten the small black device she read over those words and did exactly what was said. She refused to sink, to fall, in a match. And that had made her one of the best underground fighters in the fire country, where she started, and the Land of Waves, where she was now.

She wasn't proud of the road she had taken when her brother had left, but she was proud of the way she has endured it so far. With the grace and power Natsuki could only pray that came from her mother. The road Natsuki had taken taught her to bare her scars with pride and to never back down. _Refuse to sink. _The words were engraved in her mind and were part of her for years.

"What is that?" A masculine voice asked.

Natsuki looked up to see the dark endless orbs staring into her own. Natsuki's mouth grew into a smirk.

"It's the first thing I bought after my first match." She said.

"The first thing I did after I won my first race was buy a burger." He laughed.

"That was the second thing I bought." Natsuki smiled as she continued to trace the words engraved on the back. "Actually," She continued, "I bought six and two large fries with a large vanilla milkshake. A meal of champions." She grinned.

"No ramen?" He mocked gasp.

"Not everyone has endless amount of money, Itachi." Natsuki smiled sadly.

Itachi looked down, not surprised that Natsuki would bring it up. It seems she still hasn't forgiven him for not helping more when she and Kurama were out on the streets in their younger years.

"What could I have done, Natsuki? I was only the same age as Kurama; my father would have never let me…." Itachi trailed off, not wishing to finish what he was about to say, hoping Natsuki didn't know what he was going to say.

Itachi should have known luck wasn't on his side the moment Sasuke had asked about Natsuki earlier that day.

"Never let you what?" Natsuki's eyebrows creased together in anger, "Never let you help the "demons" of the village?"

Itachi inwardly cursed himself; he hated everything about her past and hated what the village had reduced her too; fighting to earn money.

"You're not a demon. The village is just full of ignorant assholes that used you and your brother as a scapegoat." He whispered, his sad eyes looking into her own.

"Words will never make up for what was done. They called as demons, refused to acknowledge us for what we really were; _kids_. Children, who didn't know what to do because their parents were _dead,_ if it wasn't for those few people who didn't care what their society thought, I would have been long dead, Itachi." Her cerulean blue orbs turned away from his sad eyes.

His large hand stroked her cheek and gently turned her head so her eyes would meet with his, "I owe those people a great dept then."

"Why is that?"

A small smile graced Itachi's lips, "You mean more to me than you will ever know, Uzumaki Natsuki."

Natsuki grinned, "Mah, if I didn't know better, that almost sounded like a confession, Uchiha."

Itachi grinned back at the small blonde girl before him, before he turned around, back to the large crowd of people they had just come from before, and stopped mid-step to look back at the blonde enigma starring at him, "Maybe it was, Uzumaki." He winked and inwardly did a little happy dance at the small blush that had graced her cheeks before continuing to go back into the crowd.

Natsuki blushed as she continued to stare at the tall man walking away. He was a whole head taller than she was, the top of her head _barely _meeting his broad shoulders.

"Oi, Itachi! Don't joke around like that!" Natsuki whined as she followed the tall man back into the large crowd to undeniably end up with her brother and their small, makeshift family.


	6. A Piece of the Past

"Hey." A voice whispered from behind him.

Asuma Saratobi jumped up, started at her sudden appearance behind him, "You know, Natsuki," He began, turning his head around, to look the blonde in her blue eyes, "I'm getting _real _tired of you spooking me all the time."

"Have I ever told you how old you sound?" She asked seriously.

Asuma rubbed his head, already feeling a headache coming on. "All the time." He answered with an exasperated sigh.

"A small bird told me there was going to be a new guy with a bad past fighting tonight." Natsuki said with a grin as she walked up to the young Saratobi Asuma who watching the fight going on in the ring.

Asuma turned towards the young blonde, "And what exactly did the 'bird' say?"

"That the guys had a bad reputation. He's from Suna and known as the Sandman in the underground." She said as she turned her head towards the ongoing match. It was between two men, the typical underground fight. Natsuki herself was the first female fighter in Konoha, but in Wave there was only one other in the past, Konan, Pein's girlfriend. Natsuki was the only current female fighter around these parts that was active.

Asuma gave her a glazed look, "And who is this 'bird'?"

"Well, he's probably more _dog _related than bird." She said with a smirk.

Asuma sighed, "How does Kakashi get his information?"

"It sure as hell isn't from that book he reads." Natsuki answered.

Asuma deadpanned, "That was a rhetorical question."

Natsuki shrugged, "So who is this 'Sandman' and what's his reason for being here?" She asked as she watched the two men fighting in front of them.

Asuma sent a worried gaze as he pulled a box of cigarettes from his dark green jacket, "What makes you think he has a reason for being here?"

"Asuma, the guy's from Suna. _Suna._ You know as well as I do that Suna natives have a large amount of distain for anyone not from Suna. They don't go anywhere outside their home without a, at least in their mind, legit reason." She scoffed as she watched one of the men land a really nice left hook on his opponent.

Asuma sighed wearily as he lit the head of a cigarette and took a long, relaxing, drag. "You didn't hear it from me," He said as he breathed out, enjoying the scent of his sweet sticks, "but there has been some rumors going on from the underground over there. It's said the kid has some major mental problems, and that he left because everyone worth killing is already dead."

Natsuki narrowed her eyes as she processed the information, "So what's he doing in Wave?"

"I don't know." Asuma shrugged, "Rumor has it that he only travels with two other people; a guy and a girl. They never say their real name, even to each other; they just go on in silence. At least, that's what I've heard through the grapevine."

"You've never met them, have you?" Natsuki peered at the older man.

Asuma shook his head, "I couldn't tell you what the kid looks like."

Natsuki's eyebrows met in confusion, "Than how'd he get a spot in the fight. If I do recall, you meet everyone face to face before you schedule a match unless they're veterans."

"Well, he technically is a veteran." Asuma smirked, his cigarette hanging off his lips.

Natsuki scoffed, "That's bullshit, and you know it. You still had to meet me before you gave me a slot, and I was pretty infamous back in Konoha."

"I honestly don't know how he did it. A man named Baki called, asked when the fights were and how much to get a spot. I doubt the Sandman's name is Baki." Asuma sighed.

"How'd he get your number?"

"That's what is really troubling. He didn't call my cell, you know, the one solely for the underground shit; he called the house phone when Kurenai was home." Asuma said wearily.

"Speaking of, how is she?" Natsuki asked.

Asuma gave a haunted look, "She's barely five and a half months pregnant and has a _really _good throwing arm. Yesterday I had to dodge a_ butcher knife_."

"Then you should've worn a _condom! ~" _Natsuki said in a singsong voice.

Asuma groaned. Don't get him wrong, he was excited to be a father, but Kurenai was an absolute beast at times. He'd come home from work to hear her screeching about the 'ugly' curtains she had picked out the week before. He hoped for a speedy pregnancy if he had to experience that when coming home. He missed the calm Kurenai who was content with just watching a movie and blinds on the window. Ah, blinds on the window… those were the days.

"You know a condom actually works about 99 percent of the time, right?" A voice broke in.

Asuma and Natsuki turned to look over to their right.

"Shikamaru." They voiced simultaneously.

Shikamaru gave a mock bow, "The one and the only." He said with a smirk.

Natsuki tilted her head up at the –why is everyone so _fucking _tall?- taller man, "I didn't know you came here."

Shikamaru smirked at the blonde, "I knew I recognized from somewhere else other than school."

"I didn't know you both went to school together." Asuma piped in.

"Bullshit." Kakashi said as he walked past the trio, towards the bar part of the warehouse with an obviously flustered girl trailing behind him.

"Hey," Natsuki began gaining Asuma's attention, "Is Kakashi going to be the one hosting the races since Kurenai is busy making a baby in her belly?"

"Yes." Asuma sighed.

Natsuki nodded in understanding, "That explains it."

"Explains what?" Shikamaru asked.

Natsuki looked back to where Kakashi was once before, "When he was younger, he was in a car accident that killed his mom. He received terrible trauma from it, and so he really hates the sight of cars."

"How does he get here?" Shikamaru asked.

"The same way I do; I drive my motorcycle."

Natsuki looked over Shikamaru's shoulder, seeing her makeshift family from afar.

"Hey guys," She said as she looked back to the two men, "I'll see you later."

After receiving the same goodbye, Natsuki took off towards the small family, carefully watching them as she walked through the large energetic crowd. To anyone else they looked calm, laid back, and relaxed, simply enjoying each other's company in the chaotic crowd, but Natsuki knew better. They were tense, as if they were expecting something to react to. They always were like this after one of her fights.

Natsuki would be lying through her teeth if she said she didn't know why they acted like that, but she couldn't blame them. Although they tried to hide their tense posture from her, and everyone else, Natsuki was very observant when she wanted to be. She knew what they were expecting, and in some ways she was doing the same too.

They want to be here, and ready in case she got attacked again like she did seven months ago, the night she received the horrid scar on her neck.

It was like any other Thursday evening. Asuma called, telling her what time she should be expecting to fight based on rough estimations. Asuma was the son of the most well known professor at the Academy -At that time, of course. Asuma's father didn't get promoted until later.- Although both of them attended the Academy, -Natsuki as a first year in high school and Asuma in his second year of college- they did not meet until Natsuki's long time friend, Kakashi, another person who had lived at the Konoha orphanage, gave her Asuma's number.

That day, Natsuki was set to fight two of Gato's men. Gato was the most notorious gang boss in Wave. He had his hand in everything inside the small country except for the Academy, but if he had his way, he would have his slimy fingers in there too. She was set to fight to infamous gang members, the demon brothers. They were known to be ruthless whether it was in a match or doing their boss's bidding. Og course, her lookout, Kakashi, warned her not to go through with the match, but being so her, she couldn't say know. She wanted to see if she could actually beat both men.

Naturally, and through stubborn determination, she defeated both men, much to Gato's fury. Gato had bet several millions on his most prized fighters, the loss of money was not something Gato liked at all. He had both brothers killed and hired a mercenary and his protégé to finish Natsuki off permanently.

At that time, Natsuki had yet to earn enough money for a bike of her own, so she often hitched a rid with one of the Uchiha brothers or her long time friend Kakashi on his bike. That night, she was waiting for Kakashi patiently as he did whatever it was he was doing. Natsuki wasn't one for the party scene, so often after a match, she'd watch a race and then wait in seclusion for her ride.

The man and his protégé attacked Natsuki when her back was turned to them. True to her nature, Natsuki fought back, but she still weak from her fight with the two brothers. She ended up killing the man's protégé, a boy about a year or two older than her named Haku, in self defense.

The man was vivid with anger as he saw all the blood drain from Haku's face as his body slumped over. It was an instant death; Natsuki had accidentally managed to snap the boy's neck when she punched him. The man and Haku were close, and in his rage, the man began to savagely beat her. He broke three of her ribs, fractured one, and broke her left arm and her tibia in her right leg. Her right wrist was fractured when she had punched the man.

When he was satisfied with all the damage he had caused her, he pulled out his sharp knife he had tied to his belt and knelt over the beat up girl. He lightly pressed his sharpened blade o to her neck and slowly traced it to the other side. Watching in satisfaction as the dark red liquid slowly oozed out from the shallow cut. He didn't want the girl to die instantly; he wanted her die slowly and painfully. He watched as the blood began to spill out of the girl's throat with great satisfaction.

The man didn't expect Kakashi to see and attack him head on, or the girl to survive in the end. He didn't expect to get so close to death, or leaving Haku's body next to the dying girl. Cursing softly as he nursed his wound, the man hid in the shadows, waiting to appear later on.

The man ran when Kakashi had stabbed the man with the butt of a broken pipe into his abdomen during their struggle. Kakashi quickly ran towards Natsuki, who was slowly fading in and out of consciousness. Kakashi quickly dialed the police, asking them to send an ambulance. Natsuki was lucky enough that one was only several blocks away. When they both arrived at the hospital and Natsuki admitted into emergency surgery, Kakashi called Iruka to inform him of what had happened. Iruka had contacted Jiraiya, a man with many contacts in many places, to find Kurama.

Three days later, Kurama and a small group of people arrived. Natsuki was in a small coma due to the lack of oxygen to her brain. A week later, Natsuki awoke with a large family to greet her. Kurama bought a small apartment for himself and Natsuki to live until Natsuki was well enough to go to school.–Natsuki was the only student living off campus with permission due to the attack.- Natsuki was out of school for a little over a month, but quickly caught up with school work. When school ended Kurama, Natsuki, and their makeshift family traveled for two and a half months around the continent, making friends in various places.

_New story- Spirits- has been posted, check it out. It's a FEMNaruto story, naturally. _

_Feel free to criticize on both stories. I promise not to get depressed, scouts honor. H'm… is there anything else? _

_Oh yeah, poll still posted on profile, feel free to drop a review if you can't, for whatever reason, or if you're simply too lazy to. I oftentimes fit into the latter category._

_I don't know if you guys noticed, but I OBVIOUSLY do NOT own Naruto…I only just own the plot to this story. _


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